


Stepping in Time

by exuberant_imperfection



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: 100 Prompts Challenge, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-14
Updated: 2013-09-14
Packaged: 2017-12-26 13:37:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/966559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exuberant_imperfection/pseuds/exuberant_imperfection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jesse Anderson is your average 15-year-old band geek. Then he changes schools and meets Jaden Yuki, and suddenly his life takes a turn for the weird. Features lots of geeky band adventures, a bit of angst, and plenty of fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a Spiritshipping Band Geeks AU, in which the GX characters go to an American high school (thus, dub names) and are all in band. I do actually intend on writing an actual multi-chapter fic for this, but I needed some inspiration, so I did these 100 prompts first to get into the mood of the AU.
> 
> I'm not going to post the prompts in numerical order, because I didn't write them in numerical order. So instead I've put them in approximate chronological order and split them up into chapters YAY! Enjoy!
> 
> (originally posted here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8406146/1/Stepping-in-Time)

**1\. Introduction**

When Jesse Anderson walked into the band room of his new high school for the first time, he felt a rush of boundless excitement and deeply foreboding dread at the same time. Months later he would realize that that one moment of emotion quite summarily described his entire experience of being in the same band class as Jaden Yuki.

**13\. Misfortune**

It began with an absent-minded clarinet player making a single mis-step during the field show rehearsal. It ended with Jaden Yuki and his bass drum doing a barrel roll over three tuba players and a snare drummer. Watching from a short distance away with various body parts entangled in the multi-band-kid pile-up, Jesse found he lacked the brainpower to comprehend what had happened between point A and point B.

**14\. Smile**

"Let me tell you something about Jaden Yuki," said upperclassman clarinetist Aster Phoenix to Jesse one day as they packed up their instruments after band class. "Just because he's always smiling doesn't mean you can let your guard down."

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked, quite confused at the direction their small talk had taken.

"Well he's got his normal smile, and then he's got this... this shit-eating grin, the kind where you know he's just fucked something up. And then," he paused for dramatic effect, his face so serious it was almost comical, "you'd better be prepared for chaos."

**24\. No Time**

Jesse furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, flute slowly drifting away from his lips as he stared at the little "0" on his sheet music. Isn't that where the time signature is supposed to –

"YES! IMPROV TIME!" came Jaden's voice from the back of the room. Jesse turned to watch him literally jump onto the jazz drumset in the corner and begin jamming to the sensitive, emotional trumpet solo of "An American Elegy".

Jesse face-palmed in time with the conductor.

**68\. Hero**

Jesse sat twiddling his thumbs awkwardly as he wondered how to begin a semi-personal conversation with someone with whom he was not that close. He settled for: "Aster... do you ever get the feeling that you're not the hero of your own life?" He tried desperately not to look at Jaden.

"Of course not. I'm the anti-hero," came Aster's response.

Jesse blinked. "What – "

"I'M THE GODDAMN BATMAN!"

**91\. Drowning**

"Someone help me! I can't swim!" Jaden screamed desperately as the tubas emptied their spit valves.


	2. Acquaintances

**2\. Love**

"What the heck is that?" Jaden asked, staring at Blair's oboe.

Aster began: "Well, Jaden, when a clarinet and a flute love each other very, very much... " And he kept going.

Jesse couldn't stop laughing the whole time. Blair looked mildly irritated. Syrus became redder and redder until he finally got up and left. Jaden looked like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or be scarred for life.

**4\. Dark**

They were in a windowless practice room when the school's power went out. Jesse expected Jaden to make some witty remark, but instead he felt Jaden grasp his wrist, with a firm but shaking grip, which he didn't release until the lights came back on. With one glance, they both agreed to let the memory of that incident vanish with the darkness.

**7\. Heaven**

Jesse had been told he was going to hell more times that he could count at his old (more conservative) high school. Generally he was numb to it by now – the thing that would really bother him was if he _did_ go to hell, and the guy who invented the piccolo wasn't there as well.

**8\. Innocence**

Amidst his peers' raucous laughter, Jesse heard Jaden ask him, "Wait, what's so funny about trombones?" Jesse just laughed harder.

**10\. Breathe Again**

"Hey Jesse, will you do me?" Jaden asked.

Jesse found himself unable to breathe until he realized that Jaden was indicating the difficult-to-reach zipper on the back of his marching band uniform.

**11\. Memory**

Jesse noticed that some of the other percussionists taped the marching band music to their drums for rehearsal, and Jaden didn't.

"Well, I've pretty much got it all memorized," Jaden said when he asked about it. "And I mean, it's not _that_ hard to make it up when I forget a part."

**45\. Illusion**

Before high school, Jesse had always admired marching bands in parades that he watched, because they look so serious and disciplined and _cool_. Now... he knew that the serious faces were mostly because they were miserable and waiting for it to be over.


	3. Getting to Know You

**12\. Insanity**

It was sometime between the perilous, skidding car ride of doom and the rebellious dumping of Dunkin' Donuts chai tea lattes in the high school's artificial pond that Jesse realized why he had previously avoided hanging out with percussionists at all costs.

**16\. Questioning**

"It's not that I have a _problem_ with Jaden," said Chazz, tenor sax player, when Jesse confronted him before the after-school jazz rehearsal began. "I just wish he'd act less like a child and – "

"Oh, look who's talking!"

"Shut up, Hassleberry!" Chazz snapped at the trombonist. "Anyway, less like a child, and more like" – he sighed be reluctantly continuing – "the talented musician he really is."

Jesse raised his eyebrows, surprised that the usually egotistical Chazz was admitting that someone besides himself had talent.

Atticus paused in warming up his alto sax to contribute: "Yeah, he probably could've been our jazz drummer this year if Banner trusted him to remember to come to rehearsals!"

**17\. Blood**

"I always knew I wasn't great on the piccolo," Jesse said, suppressing his laughter as he handed Jaden a box of tissues, "but I never thought I'd be able to give someone a nosebleed just by playing it nearby." (1)

**19\. Gray**

One day, Jesse walked into the band room and instantly felt _off._ There was something dull about band that day. He didn't know what it was until fifteen minutes into class, when he noticed a conspicuous lack of symbol crashes in Stars and Stripes Forever, and turned around to see that Jaden was missing.

**21\. Vacation**

"I didn't pick up my flute all Christmas vacation," Jesse admitted to Jaden. "I feel bad for not practicing, but..."

"Wait, we were supposed to _practice?!_ "

**25\. Trouble Lurking**

At this point, Jaden only needed to give the tiniest mischievous smirk and Jesse would begin sleeping with one eye open.

**85\. Spiral**

Mr. Banner regretted placing Jaden in the center of the spiral formation in the field show the moment they first tried it in rehearsal. Jaden alternated between obnoxiously complaining about being "at the end of the line", and obnoxiously boasting and making puns about being "the star of the show".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) NOT an anime nosebleed. A normal nosebleed. I doubt a piccolo could actually give someone a nosebleed, but meh. It was that, or angst, and I chose funny.


	4. Thinking About You

**27\. Foreign**

The serene look of concentration was almost comically out of place on Jaden's face as his fingers danced over the keys of the piano, but Jesse was too preoccupied with the music to laugh.

**29\. Happiness**

Jesse sat beside Jaden on the bus post-parade, silently shoving cookies and water into his face, reveling in just how good it felt to be sitting down instead of marching.

**30\. Under the Rain**

Halfway through a field show rehearsal, Jesse felt a single drop of water land on his nose. Two minutes later, the entire band was huddling under the bleachers together, taking shelter from the sudden downpour.

...Except for Jaden, who had deposited his bass drum under the bleachers, and then immediately pranced back out into the rain.

"C'mon, Jesse, the water's fine!"

With a grin and the sneaking suspicion that he would regret this later, Jesse laid his flute on top of the drum and joined him.

**31\. Flowers**

Jesse's mother had a flower in a pot in their house that refused to bloom, no matter how well she treated it, and for some reason every time Jesse walked by that flower he thought of Jaden, and before long whenever he got bored in class he would doodle a little picture of Jaden with leaves for arms and a stem for legs to amuse himself.

And then he would put his head down on his desk for a moment and wonder what went wrong with the development of his brain.

**33\. Expectations**

"Jaden could be drumline captain by now. He could've made All-State band years ago. But he hasn't, he just goofs off, and everyone seems to think he's some sort of untalented spazz," Jesse said to Zane. "I just don't get it."

"Not everyone has as strong a sense of self as you do, Jesse," the senior french horn player replied, glancing up from the music he was notating. "Some people resist submitting to the expectations of others, afraid that by doing so, they will lose themselves." A man of few words, Zane went back to his work, and Jesse sat silently contemplating.

**36\. Precious Treasure**

Jesse didn't allow _anyone_ to touch his flute. Jaden claimed to have the scars to prove it.

**80\. Words**

Although Jesse was generally good at understanding his own feelings, he had never been very good with words, which was why he preferred to express himself through music.


	5. That Point in a Friendship At Which You Can Begin Teasing Each Other Mercilessly

**41\. Teamwork**

Jesse didn't mind helping Jaden ferry the percussion equipment between the band room and the auditorium... until he found out that Jaden liked to play a game called, "let's see how many people we can scare by pretending to lose control of the marimbas."

**43\. Dying**

"Jaden, it looks like your drumsticks are dying," Jesse said, skeptically eying the beat up wooden sticks in Jaden's hands.

"Nah, they'll be fine, I can make 'em last! Check _this_ out!" _Snap._ "OW!" Jaden spent the next half an hour pulling splinters out of his hands.

**44\. Two Roads**

"Truth or dare?"

Jesse spent a moment trying to decide exactly how much he trusted Jaden Yuki.

He also took a moment to consider that the last dare Jaden gave out resulted in a close encounter with the police.

"Truth."

**46\. Family**

"I just don't get why everyone seems to hate the chorus," Jaden said as they passed by the chorus room. Inside, a multitude of voices and a piano wove together a beautiful song that drifted out into the hall.

"Yeah, I know! Chorus and band are like siblings, really," Jesse replied.

"Yeah!" Jaden agreed enthusiastically. "And the visual arts are like... our half-siblings, or something."

Jesse nodded. Then the two of them passed the theatre room. Inside, there was much flailing and screaming.

"...And theatre is adopted."

**49\. Stripes**

Jaden was the only person Jesse had ever met who could manage to be enthusiastic _every single time_ they played Stars and Stripes Forever.

**50\. Breaking the Rules**

"Jaden, you can't write a five-four-one progression. That's against the voice leading rules," Jesse pointed out in music theory class, looking over Jaden's shoulder as he wrote a composition.

"Screw the rules, it sounds pretty," said Jaden, sticking his tongue out.


	6. Getting to Know You 2

**42\. Standing Still**

When Jaden played music, it was like the rest of the world vanished and time stood still, and nothing mattered except the beat.

**55\. Waiting**

Marching in parades might have been slightly more tolerable if not for the damned _waiting_ beforehand. And they waited in long-sleeved uniforms, sweating in the sun.

Jaden found ways to make it interesting, though. "Okay, so I'll flip this coin, and we both call the toss, and whoever loses... has to tell an embarrassing story about themselves!" Jesse returned his contagious grin.

**56\. Danger Ahead**

Jesse used to think that the scariest sentence in the world was, "Hey, let's see who can play the highest note!"

Now he knew that the _real_ scariest sentence was, "I bet my rim shot's louder than yours!"

**60\. Rejection**

After utterly bombing an audition for the school musical, Jesse decided to join the pit band instead. When he went to the first rehearsal, he saw that Jaden was one of the percussionists.

"Aw, don't worry about the theatre people rejecting you," Jaden said when Jesse told him about it. "Pit band is way cooler anyway!"

Jesse had never felt so happy to have been rejected fro something.

**65\. Horror**

All it took was a single careless move by Jaden. Their light-hearted laughter immediately ceased and they all watched in horror as Syrus's clarinet fell to the ground. The resounding CLACK as the instrument hit the floor cut through all conversation, turning every head in the room.

Jesse's horror doubled when Jaden grabbed him and tried to use him as a human shield against Syrus's wrath.

**69\. Annoyance**

After twenty minutes, Syrus finally burst out, "Jaden, if you play Flight of the Bumblebee _one more time,_ I'll... I'll... I'll burn all of your Yu-Gi-Oh cards!" Jesse doubled over in laughter, both from the attempted threatening look on Syrus' face, and from the look of utter _horror_ on Jaden's.

**72\. Mischief Managed**

Mr. Banner was just beginning to give the count-off for the next song they were rehearsing when Jesse noticed out of the corner of his eye several people switching sheet music in a rush. He turned around and also saw Jaden suddenly jumping onto the drumset... when he was supposed to be playing the triangle for this song.

Then came the tom-tom intro, and a very, _very_ familiar melody, played by at least half of the band. Banner was speechless as people started laughing and singing along to the rather hastily-thrown-together rendition of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Jaden's grin was one hundred per cent shit-eating.


	7. Sometimes I Wonder How You Managed to Survive Your Life To This Point

**23\. Cat**

Since joining band, Jesse had developed an almost cat-like reflex whenever he fell over – that is, he was able to land in any way possible in order to protect his flute.

**77\. Test**

"What did you write down for the definition of _cantabile_?" Jesse asked Jaden after they'd all passed in their band tests.

"Oh, that's easy! It's a person who eats other people!" Jaden said with a grin. "At least, I think that's – hey, what're you laughing at?"

**81\. Pen and Paper**

In the middle of band class, the girl sitting next to Jesse passed him a folded piece of paper and a pen. Confused, he opened it.

_Most attractive percussionist? Check one._

_Jaden Yuki_

_Jaden Yuki_

_Jaden Yuki_

_Other: _  
_

There were several names written in "other" in various people's handwriting, some with several checks next to them, and one or two checks beside Jaden's name. Jesse turned around and scanned the band in confusion, wondering who the heck would have started this –

There was a suggestive smirk on Atticus's face.

**87\. Food**

The last day of band camp was as bright and hot as all the others, so during the lunch break, almost everyone was crowded under the shade of the largest tree on campus, halfway between the band room and the practice field.

To Jesse's confusion, Jaden had both bought a band lunch and brought a lunchbox from home. "What's in there Jay? Dessert?" he asked. Jaden grinned and shook his head as he opened the lunchbox and pulled out the biggest box full of red jello that Jesse had ever seen.

...He then opened it up, grabbed a fistful of it, and lobbed it in a random direction. It landed with a _splat_ on drum major Austin O'Brien's face.

O'Brien stood up and pulled out a water gun, and war erupted beneath the tree.

**88\. Pain**

"My thumb is sore!" Syrus.

"My lips are numb!" Hassleberry.

"My neck hurts!" Atticus.

"Mine too!" Chazz.

Jesse silently massaged and stretched his arms, which were sore from holding up his flute the whole parade.

Meanwhile, Jaden didn't even notice the giant blisters on his index fingers until they were pointed out to him.

**89\. Through the Fire**

Jesse sighed. "No Jaden, playing 'Through the Fire and Flames' on expert without failing does not count as practicing your instrument."

"Though that is very impressive," Atticus added unhelpfully.

**96\. In the Storm**

"It's okay, it's not like I play tuba or anything!" Jaden said as he stood on the metal bleachers in the middle of a thunderstorm, fascinated by the lightning. Jesse had to drag him inside.

**97\. Safety First**

"And remember," said the director of the band, Mr. Banner, "make sure you don't go anywhere by yourselves, and don't leave the building for any reason whatsoever. Is that clear?"

The vaguely murmured assent from the band was interrupted by a knocking sound from the window. The band turned as a single, multi-headed organism to see Jaden Yuki's grinning face hanging upside down from a tree branch.


	8. The Band Bus

**20\. Fortitude** (The Band Bus Part 1)

The phrase "8-hour bus ride" sparked dread in every member of the band, but dammit, they boarded that bus with optimism in every step.

"We'll _make_ it fun!" Jaden asserted with a grin that was at least fifty percent shit-eating, and proceeded to orchestrate a massive wave of obscenely obnoxious chaos.

By the two-hour mark, their fortitude had completely petered out.

 **84\. Out Cold** (The Band Bus Part 2)

Jesse swore it was only a thirty-second lapse in their conversation, but when he next turned his head to speak again, Jaden was fast asleep, his head bobbing limply with the movement of the bus.

 **39\. Dreams** (The Band Bus Part 3)

Jaden kept flickering back and forth between two realities:

One was the familiar band room, where he played at the piano, and Jesse was there too, playing his flute, and they made a really nice song together and all was well.

And the other was dim and quiet, except for a vague droning hum, and his cheek was pressed against something that was soft, warm, and had a comforting smell, and all was well.

 **99\. Solitude** (The Band Bus Part 4)

Jesse looked out the window of the bus and, despite his attempts to direct his thoughts elsewhere, only pondered how he felt about the warm weight (and the unexpectedly soft hair) that was currently sleeping on his shoulder.

 **15\. Silence** (The Band Bus Part 5)

Upon Jaden's awakening, he lifted his head off of Jesse's shoulder and neither of them said a single word, and the droning of the bus engine went on.

 **93\. Give Up** (The Band Bus Part 6)

On the return trip, there was no attempt to maintain chaos. Everyone either fell asleep, or watched PG-rated movies _..._ and then fell asleep. Except for Jaden, who determinedly stayed awake for the whole eight hours.

Jesse looked out the window and tried not to think too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, but I wanted to give this mini-series its own chapter. :D There's one more mini-series that will get its own chapter, and a third mini-series that will share the final chapter with a few more prompts.


	9. Getting to Know You Getting to Know Me

**5\. Seeking Solace**

Jesse self-consciously wiped at his red, puffy eyes and said, "I... don't really know where to start." Jaden gave him a milder version of his usual grin and replied, "The beginning is usually good."

**9\. Drive**

Jaden's driving was very similar to his playing – when he was focused, he did fine, but otherwise it was a little erratic. So whenever he'd had more than one can of Mountain Dew, Jesse made sure to confiscate his keys.

**18\. Rainbow**

As a graduation present, Jesse's family and friends all pitched in to buy him a professional flute. He excitedly opened the case, and it got even better – the flute was tinted with all the colors of the rainbow, just like he'd always wanted.

Jesse couldn't help it – he cried tears of happiness. He later tried to deny it, but Jaden made sure to take pictures.

**22\. Mother Nature**

During break one rehearsal, everyone was lounging in the shade... except for Jaden, who lay spread-eagle in the sun. Upon seeing the peaceful smile upon his face, Jesse stopped trying to convince him to join them in the shade, and instead tossed him a bottle of sunscreen.

**26\. Tears**

"Jesse, why do you do band?"

If Jesse hadn't been driving, he would have looked over at Jaden in surprise and confusion – he had barely spoken a single word since Jesse had picked him up at his house. "Um..."

Jaden gave a little nervous chuckle. "Uh, I mean, I know that's kinda random, but I... I just, um... I've just been thinking about... stuff. Lately. Um. Yeah. Sorry for asking so suddenly."

The apology, on top of the hesitant, quiet voice, finally got Jesse concerned enough that he glanced over at Jaden. There were tears shining on his face. Jesse pulled over.

**28\. Sorrow**

"You're... moving?"

Jesse didn't speak or meet Jaden's eyes for fear that the tears would break through his shaky composure. He just nodded silently.

**37\. Eyes**

Sometimes when Jaden got really into his playing, he would close his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly in concentration. If Jesse was watching, he would become utterly transfixed at that point. His trance would only be broken if Jaden opened his eyes – or if Syrus or Aster leaned over and asked why he had such a weird smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've watched the sub of season 3, you may have recognized a bit of the dialogue in "Tears". In the actual fic, I'm planning on having a scene that is parallel to the "Johan, why do you duel?" conversation, because that is one of my favorite Spiritshipping moments of all time. :3


	10. You Never Stop Surprising Me

**47\. Creation**

One day, when they were just hanging out in the band room after school, Jaden sat down at the piano and began playing a song Jesse had never heard him play before.

"That was beautiful," Jesse said as he finished. "What was it?"

"Thanks! It was – um... I – I wrote it myself," Jaden said with an uncharacteristic stammer. He grinned broadly and changed the subject, and Jesse let it go.

A few weeks later, Jaden presented him with a stack of papers and said, "Happy birthday!" It was the sheet music to an original composition entitled, "Jesse's Theme".

**48\. Childhood**

"You know, I actually started off on clarinet, back in sixth grade," Jaden revealed.

Jesse tried to picture it. "Really? Why'd you switch?"

"Well, one day, the clarinet wasn't working, and I didn't know how to fix it, so I asked an older band kid. And then he told me to put it in hot water."

Jesse stared. "...You didn't."

Jaden blushed. "I boiled it in a pot. Switched to percussion the next day."

**51\. Sport**

"Well, that's one of the reasons I joined marching band in the first place." Jaden got a sheepish look on his face. "I heard it counts as a sport and my parents told me they'd stop making me go to dance classes if I did a sport."

**52\. Deep in Thought**

Once, Jesse turned to see Jaden staring at him, his eyes intense but distant.

"...Jay? What's up?"

"Just thinkin'," was the vague reply.

"About?"

He blinked and diverted his gaze. "Stuff."

**54\. Tower**

When Jaden and Jesse realized they had the band room all to themselves after school, the first thing they did was begin stacking the chairs on top of each other, competing to see who could create the highest tower.

Ten minutes later, Jesse gloated from his taller throne, while Jaden insisted that he only lost because he was a few inches shorter than Jesse.

**57\. Sacrifice**

At the end of the parade, Jesse took one look at Jaden's exhausted face, and offered to switch instruments with him for the walk back to the buses. Five minutes of carrying the bass drum later, he resolved never to complain about sore arms again.

**58\. Kick in the Head**

When Jaden left Jesse to go refill his plate of food, he was cornered by Aster.

"Dude," he said in an undertone, a smug look on his face, "he _so_ totally wants you."

Jaden's head went fuzzy and his brow furrowed in confusion. "Who wants what?"

"Jesse. Wants. You."

"Oh. What for?"

A sigh. "No, I mean, he _likes_ you."

"Well, yeah, we _are_ friends – "

" _He likes you in a sexual way._ "

Jaden blinked, heat rushing to his cheeks. "You say some weird stuff, Aster." He turned and went to stuff his face with food and tried to forget that conversation ever happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Childhood" is based off of a post I saw from Story Monday of the Music Problems blog on Tumblr. And "Kick in the Head" is basically the story of how I got my first boyfriend. That is all. XD


	11. I Care About You So Much That It's Almost a Problem

**59\. No Way Out**

His heart pounded whenever he looked at Jaden.

His heart pounded whenever he heard Jaden's voice.

His heart pounded whenever Jaden put a hand on his shoulder, or slung a casual arm around his neck.

But what really convinced Jesse that he'd fallen for the dorky drummer was that during band class, his heart pounded whenever he heard a part he knew Jaden played.

**62\. Magic**

The incredible amount of effort Jesse put into selecting a good piano-flute duet, and getting Jaden to actually sit down and practice – it was all worth it, just for that one magical moment during the performance when their eyes met and, together, they nailed the heart-wrenching climax of the piece.

**64\. Multitasking**

Sometimes, even when it seemed Jaden was entirely engrossed in playing the drumset, he would look up, catch Jesse staring, and somehow manage to find the concentration to grin at him without losing his groove at all.

**66\. Traps**

"So I hear you're joining the chorus next year," said senior sax player slash vocalist slash actor Jim Cook.

"Yeah, I wanna improve my voice so I can make it into the spring musical," Jesse replied.

Jim sighed and shook his head. "They've got you already."

"What?"

"The performing arts department. It's like a black hole – once you get in too deep, you're never coming back out until death (or graduation) do you part."

**67\. Playing the Melody**

It was pathetic and dorky and incredibly stupid, but every time the percussion parts were assigned, Jesse found himself hoping that Jaden would get a mallet part, so they could maybe play the melody of the piece together.

**70\. 67%**

About two-thirds of the time, it was Syrus, Chazz, or Hassleberry who caught Jesse staring at Jaden during band. They never really made the connection, though – they would always get a confused look on their faces and ask "hey, what are you staring at?".

The other one-third of the time, it was Aster or Atticus who caught him. Their usual response was to leer and waggle their eyebrows at Jesse until he turned away, face bright red, and pretended he'd been practicing his flute all along.

**74\. Are You Challenging Me?**

The first time their drumline was challenged by another school's drumline, all Jaden could do was make faces at them from behind his bass drum as they were completely owned.

Two years later, when they were approached by a rival drumline, Jaden harnessed up and played an obscenely impressive quad solo that had them backing off before they could even play a single note in retaliation.

He still made faces at their retreating backs.

**75\. Mirror**

Outside of band class, not many people would think to compare Jaden and Jesse, but in any music-related activity, their similarities became more pronounced. When Jaden played on the piano, or Jesse played a flute solo, they often had identical looks of passionate focus on their faces.

**78\. Drink**

It was the longest, hottest parade they'd ever marched, and Jaden collapsed halfway through.

Jesse immediately broke formation, volunteering to wear the bass drum while Jaden recovered in the golf cart following the band. He hovered nearby, listening as one of the band parents talked to him after he regained consciousness.

"Did you hydrate properly last night?"

"Yeah, I drank plenty of Mountain Dew, I have no clue why I passed out!"

Jesse resolved to monitor Jaden's fluid intake before future parades.

**79\. Starvation**

The band parents were late with the food, and the band was getting antsy.

Aster turned to Jesse with a predatory smirk on his face and said, "Hey, piccolo players are pretty unnecessary, don't you think?"

Jesse clutched his piccolo closer and stared at Aster warily. "Not really..."

"My friend," Aster said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "there's no need to get offended. I'm just letting you know that if our food doesn't get here in the next five minutes, you're first on the list to be cannibalized."

"What? No one gets to eat Jesse except for me!" Jaden yelled. Jesse didn't really know what to say to that.

The scatttered chuckles in reaction to Jaden's comment suddenly became an uproar of laughter when someone yelled "GAY!"

Jesse imagined his face was just as red as Jaden's was becoming, and he wondered if maybe he could die from starvation before dying of embarrassment.

**82\. Can You Hear Me?**

Jesse repeated himself three times, but Jaden still had a confused look on his face, so he gave up on trying to be heard and instead just grabbed Jaden's hand, dragging him into the chaos that was the impromptu rave party in the band room.

**83\. Heal**

After the intense, week-long band camp, Jaden threw a "recovery party" at which everyone chugged energy drinks, ate lots of food, played video games, and then crashed in various places in Jaden's room for the night. Jesse didn't feel very "recovered" afterward, but he didn't really mind.

**86\. Seeing Red**

A pink tutu on his bass drum. The word "FAG" written in large letters across every piece of sheet music in his folder. And a small crowd gathered around him, laughing and shouting cutting remarks disguised as jokes at his expense. Jesse walked into the band room, saw Jaden standing like a statue in the midst of all of this, and suddenly felt the most intense burst of fury he'd ever felt in his life.

**95\. Advertisement**

They watched the TV intently, Jaden sitting with his fingers poised over the keyboard, and Jesse standing beside him. Then, a certain commercial came on and they sprung into action. Jaden played the chords and sang the melody of the jingle, while Jesse added a harmony.

At the end of it, they shared a victorious high-five and felt like the coolest dorks in the universe.

**98\. Puzzle**

_To: Jesse_  
From: Jaden  
Sent at 1:32pm

hey jess, i had to leave school early for a doctor thingy, can u put away the drumset for me?

 _To: Jaden_  
From: Jesse  
Sent at 2:01pm

no problem jay, ill go do it right now, just got out of school :)

 _To: Jaden_  
From: Jesse  
Sent at 2:54pm

sorry jay but i can't figure out how to do this ive been trying for like an hour and i keep dropping stuff. im just gonna shove crap in the closet before i miss the late bus SORRY


	12. I'm Not Usually the Jealous Type

**90\. Triangle** (Foreign Exchange Student Part 1)

Jesse didn't have anything personal against the new foreign exchange student – in fact, all he knew about him was that his name was Yusei, he was a year above them, and he played the string bass.

And then Jaden befriended him, and wouldn't stop going on about "Yusei this" and "Yusei that" and "me and Yusei this", and suddenly Yusei became the most dislike-able person on the planet.

 **71\. Obsession** (Foreign Exchange Student Part 2)

Jesse began to suspect that Jaden harbored some sort of... _infatuation_ for Yusei when he began showing off for him. Jaden never showed off – he played because it was fun, and that was that! But now, every time Yusei walked into the band room, Jaden would hop on the closest instrument and begin playing the most impressive thing he could think of, even if he was in the middle of doing something else. Like having a conversation with someone. With his friends. With Jesse.

 **38\. Abandoned** (Foreign Exchange Student Part 3)

Jaden convinced Yusei to learn how to play bass drum so he could join marching band. Jesse spent the next few rehearsals and parades trying to make conversation with his fellow flutists.

 **94\. Last Hope** (Foreign Exchange Student Part 4)

Jaden was spending less and less time with Jesse, and more and more time with Yusei. Jesse knew the saying about letting things you love go, but... he didn't want to lose Jaden as a friend, at least. So he played his final, most desperate card.

"Jaden, wanna come over some time and teach me how to play Duel Monsters?"

The way Jaden's face lit up rekindled Jesse's hope.

 **76\. Broken Pieces** (Foreign Exchange Student part 5)

Jesse wasn't sure who he was more upset with – himself, for thinking for even one second that he'd be happy to see Yusei leave; or Yusei, for going back to Japan and leaving Jaden heartbroken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shortness again, especially compared to that huge chapter 11! XD But the next (and final) chapter is pretty long too, and there's lots of fluffy goodness. :3


	13. I'm Really Glad We Met

**40\. Rated** (The Band Hotel Part 1) **  
**

They were in a four-star hotel for a band trip, and all the chaperones were supposedly patrolling the halls vigilantly, but Jaden didn't seem to care. It was about twenty minutes after lights-out that he jumped up and said, "Adventure time!" Hassleberry followed him enthusiastically, Syrus less so, and Jesse only reluctantly tagged along when Jaden grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door.

 **32\. Night** (The Band Hotel Part 2)

Later that night, once they had returned from their little misadventure and settled down, the only sounds in the hotel room were the droning of the air conditioner, the sleeping sighs and snores from Syrus and Hassleberry, and the murmur of Jaden and Jesse talking about life.

 **34\. Stars** (The Band Hotel Part 3)

The quiet serenity didn't last long. Around four-thirty in the morning, Jaden sat up and said, "Let's see if we can get to the roof! I wanna see the stars!" Jesse sighed in resignation and followed him on the second "adventure" of the night. It took them so long to find the roof and get there undetected that they ended up watching the sunrise instead of the stars.

 **73\. I Can't** (The Band Hotel Part 4)

"Jaden, wake up, I can't carry you back to the room," Jesse said, shaking Jaden's shoulder.

"Weakling," Jaden murmured through a yawn as he stretched and stood up. "I bet I could carry _you._ "

Jesse imagined being carried by Jaden's lean, chiseled percussionist arms, and flushed.

 **3\. Light** (The Band Hotel part 5)

Despite having stayed up so late, Jesse still woke up first. He went to go take a shower, and everyone was _still_ asleep when he got out. The band chaperones would be making their rounds any minute now to check that they were awake. So he prepared to commit an act of cruel betrayal upon his fellow teenagers.

He pulled the curtains open, yelling, "Rise and shine, fellas!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"WHY?"

"Asdfghjkl... errrruiriufdlnvifu... homdbsjacbjdsd..."

 **53\. Keeping a Secret** (The Band Hotel part 6)

The next night, sometime well after midnight, Jesse slowly drifted awake to the sensation of his hair being stroked, and the sound of Jaden's voice, soft and close like a secret, his breath warm on Jesse's face. He kept his eyes shut and listened.

"...I've never had a friend like you. I mean, you... you like me for the weird guy I am and all, but... you also..." He drifted off and remained silent for quite some time. Finally, just as Jesse was about to fall back asleep, he continued. "You make me wanna be better."

 **6\. Break Away** (The Band Hotel part 7)

In the morning, Jesse found himself very glad that he was consistently the first to awaken among them, so he could deal with the awkward – but not unpleasant – situation that had developed overnight.

Jaden's arm ( _the one that stroking my hair last night_ , a small corner of Jesse's mind whispered) was draped across his chest, his face nuzzled in the space between Jesse's shoulder and neck, and their legs tangled together.

Jesse laid there for a moment, just listening and feeling Jaden breathe beside him. Before long, though, the sounds of Syrus and Hassleberry stirring in the other bed prompted him to carefully untangle himself from Jaden. He got in the shower and mentally prepared himself to continue with his day as if he'd had a perfectly uneventful night.

**35\. Hold My Hand**

The first time they walked hand-in-hand, Jesse couldn't help but notice something.

"Hey, Jay – we're walking in step!"

Jaden grinned sheepishly. "Well, that's a first for me."

**61\. Fairy Tale**

Their first kiss was in the band room after school. Their next several were in the storage closet across the hall, between the marching band hat boxes and the post-parade snack supplies. Maybe it wasn't fairy tale material, Jesse thought, but he still wouldn't change a thing about it.

**63\. Do Not Disturb**

Jesse usually used his "Do Not Disturb" sign to keep his family out when he was trying to record a piece. He found it had several other uses, though, when Jaden came over.

**92\. All That I Have**

The summer before changing schools, Jesse spent every day struggling to find something to do to replace band class.

The next summer he spent most days wondering what Jaden was doing.

The summer after _that,_ he was too busy hunting adventure with Jaden to idly ponder much of anything.

**100\. Relaxation**

They enjoyed the shade of a large tree during break time, laying in the cool grass and sharing a pair of headphones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are my original ending notes to this fic: 
> 
> Aaaaaand that's all, folks! *sniff* I can't believe it's over! Sorry there wasn't more of them while they're actually together, but the bulk of my concentration was on the "getting to know you" part of their relationship, as that's one of my favorite parts. :3
> 
> So yeah, thank you all very much! There's no way I would have finished all of this if I hadn't had so much support and love from all of you guys! I'm glad you've stuck around to see the end of this. Now sadly, I don't have the actual fic written yet, so obviously this update-every-day thing won't be continuing. But I'm going to do my best to get at least the beginning of the fic written before I go back to school (which is September 5th). After that, I'll be considerably busier, but since I'm a music major I'll be doing band stuff and just getting more inspiration, so hopefully that'll help balance it all out and I can keep on a semi-regular writing schedule. :D
> 
> I have a few random scenes written already, so keep your eyes out - in the next few days I might post a little preview of the fic as chapter 14 of this story. ^_^
> 
> Thanks again, I love you all, and I'll hopefully see you again soon when I post the fic!
> 
> \- - -
> 
> And here is my new addition:
> 
> So, I actually had a crazy year at school last year, with very little time to write much of anything, let alone a multi-chapter fic. It's still on my to-do list, and I have like 20,000 words of an incomplete rough draft, but I have no idea when I'll actually get around to finishing/posting it.
> 
> To keep up with any updates I might have of this AU in general, check out its tag on my blog: http://exuberant-imperfection.tumblr.com/tagged/stepping-in-time


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